How Do Tailors Shorten Sleeves From Shoulder

Have you ever asked yourself, “how do tailors shorten sleeves from shoulders?” Since the perfect fit is essential for a professional image, tailors often shorten sleeves from shoulders instead of from the arm.

Remove the sleeves. Use a sharp blade or a pair of scissors and carefully unsew the sleeves from the body. Exercise caution to avoid cutting the fabric as you carefully remove the stitches.

Iron the sleeves and remove any pieces of thread. Once removed, it is important to iron the sleeves along the seam at the shoulders area to smooth out the material and have better control of the fabric as you trim off the excess material. Make sure to use the right temperature on the iron so you don’t damage the fabric.

Determine how much fabric you need to cut off. If the sleeves are one inch too long, shorten sleeves from shoulders by ¾ inch. Follow the original cut. When you shorten sleeves from shoulders, it is important to retain the same pattern.

Re-attach the sleeves to the body. The seam should be about ¼ inch away from the edge of the fabric. Do the same with the second sleeve. Make sure that the color of thread matches the fabric.

Turn the garment inside out. Try it on. The sleeves should be one inch shorter, just the length you need. This is the way that tailors shorten sleeves from shoulders.

As you can see, anyone who’s a bit handy with a sewing machine can make this type of alteration without paying tailor-type rates.